


my feisty lover (my four-leaf clover)

by yvhcn (jfcdanvers)



Category: Runaways (TV 2017)
Genre: F/F, Fluff and Humor, Very slight tho, also? the runaways? as teachers?, but i definitely asked myself so here it is, englishteacher!karolina, hell yeah, it's the teacher!au no one probably asked, karolina's very gay for nico, pe/cheerleadingcoach!nico, there will be slight angst?
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-08
Packaged: 2019-10-22 20:45:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17669774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jfcdanvers/pseuds/yvhcn
Summary: first days in school are always a dreaded part of everyone's lives at one point.karolina dean — a new english teacher at atlas academy — discovers that not all first days in school aren't so bad. in fact, she might have just met her happy ever after in the form a feisty, physical education teacher, who's determined to keep her at an arm's length.meanwhile, karolina's determined to keep her closer than an arm's length for as long as she can help it.—or karolina's a new teacher, nico is the broody p.e teacher, and everybody ships them. except chase. but he'll get over it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi! so, i know, i have other wips going on, but i just couldn't help myself with this one? it's been running around my head for weeks and i knew i just had to write it. and i just really, really, really, really love deanoru i can't. they kill me with their love is2g. but anyways,
> 
> without further ado, here's the first chapter!
> 
> p.s i have no beta, so all mistakes are mine!

 

_Okay. You’ve got this. You’ve been preparing for this your entire life._

 

**_Don’t fuck it up._ **

 

Karolina Dean crosses the threshold of the room where she is fated to practice her strength for an entire year — maybe more. She walks towards the only table with drawers on it, already thinking of things to put in there; how to organize them and all that stuff she shouldn’t be thinking of at the moment.

 

She takes one very deep breath as she stops to place her shoulder bag on the table, and then— _a smile._

 

“Good morning, everyone,” she greets, bouncing slightly on her toes. “I’m Karolina Dean and I’ll be your English teacher this year.”

 

*******

 

 

The lunch bell rings and Karolina finds herself _practically_ deflating in her seat as the last of her students bids her goodbye from the door. She reciprocates with an enthusiastic wave of her hand and waits until the door closes before allowing herself to plop down on the table.

 

 _Oh, God._ It isn’t supposed to be this tiring. She’s done this before. _Right before graduating because it’s one major requirement for getting her baccalaureate._ She shouldn’t be this close to passing out before the end of school.

 

Well, at least her students like her. After an entire night of worrying about teenagers taking advantage of her patience and kindness, now she can rest assured.

 

Karolina pushes her torso off the table and leans back against her chair, groaning quietly as she reaches down to massage the sole of her foot. If she’s being honest, she _did_ expect her first day of being a professional teacher to be very exhausting. It’s one thing to be practicing with a cooperating teacher and another to be the teacher. She almost misses those times when all she had to do was make lesson plans, teach one or two classes, and grade papers.

 

_Almost._

 

She’s pretty sure that nothing can beat the feeling of being treated as a teacher at this point. That, and the fact that her students seem to actually like her? Despite her being new? Yeah, she’ll take that over kids not treating her seriously just because she’s still training to be one.

 

_“Get your ass off that fucking table, Jessie!”_

 

Karolina’s eyes widen when the colorful words bounce in her room. She slips her foot back into her shoes and runs to inspect. A group of kids is gathered in the hallway, two of which are towering forms of football players made even taller because of the table they’ve, apparently, decided to use as a stage for whatever shenanigan they are up to.

 

And beneath them is what Karolina could only describe as the most beautiful woman she’s ever seen.

 

“I said, get off the fucking table!”

 

And feisty. Small and feisty.

 

Black hair, almost as black as that of a raven’s feathers, pale skin, almond eyes lined with eyeliner, and a pretty mean scowl scrunching her pretty face.

 

_Oh, God._

 

It isn’t the time to be acting like a teenager, and Karolina only realizes this when the small, feisty, and most beautiful woman she’s ever seen grabs what seems to be a very long stick and — God, no, that’s illegal.

 

“Hey, hey—” she runs for it, quite dramatically, and her presence seems enough to silence the riot that is happening around them. She grabs the stick, just above that small, pale hand, and swallows as she spares the footballers a brief glance before looking back down at the small, feisty, and most beati— _God_ , focus. “That’s not okay. We don’t hit kids.”

 

The sma— _nameless_ woman scowls at her, her pretty lips parting at one corner. “What?”

 

That gives her a pause. “What?”

 

“A-Also, you’re not supposed to say bad words around these kids.”

 

The students give them that look and slowly disperses because, obviously, no more fun. Two teachers around, one of which is new and actually cute and kind. There’s a chorus of groaning on one side, the other is relatively quiet as they vacate the hallway. The football players jump off the table.

 

A suspicious sound of _something_ breaking echoes around them.

 

That leaves Karolina and the nameless woman alone, still holding the stick like some sacred staff between them.

 

“...Uhm—”

 

“You thought I was going to hit a kid?”

 

Karoline’s eyebrows shoot up to her hairline, gaping like a fish out of water. “I-I mean, you grabbed this and—”

 

“No!” The nameless woman pulls the stick from her grasp, causing her to jerk forward in shock. She manages to recover just in time with the woman crouching down to retrieve something on the floor. “I was going use this to get my _keys_ from those oafs, but now, no thanks to you, the keychain is broken.”

 

Karolina looks at the broken... skull, blinking rapidly. “I’m sorry. I— I’ll replace it. I swear, name the store-”

 

“It’s in Shibuya, so unless you can find a way to go to Japan today, buy another one of this, and give it to me tomorrow—” The stranger pockets the broken keychain, steps right into Karolina’s face, and sneers. “ _Then, no thanks.”_

 

She leaves Karolina frozen in her place, with nothing to do but follow her retreating form with her eyes and mouth ajar, which is slowly, but very surely forming a stupid smile as she takes in the familiar school logo on the back of her blue shirt with the word _FACULTY_ written in bold bellow.

 

“Wow.”

 

*******

 

Dismissal time isn’t really as eventful as lunch, and Karolina had expected it to be the other way around. After packing her things and sending more students off with her now infamous smile, she starts the long way to the parking lot, determined to not make any more stops or have _anyone_ interrupt her because it’s been a very long day and her body’s seriously ready to just drop on her bed and sleep the night away.

 

As if that is possible, really.

 

“Hey!” A voice calls from her side and she slows down to greet the newcomer. She smiles in greeting, albeit tiredly.

 

“Hey.”

 

“I’m Chase Stein, by the way,” he presents a hand, which Karolina takes in a firm shake. “One of the Math teachers and coach of the school’s robotics club.”

 

“Sounds busy,” she chuckles. “I’m Karolina Dean, the—”

 

“English teacher,” Chase interrupts. “Yeah, everyone knows you. In a very good way, though. Don’t worry.”

 

“I doubt that,” Karolina snorts, then trails off. “Um, I’d like to have my hand back now.”

 

“Right. Sorry.” He’s silent for a moment, and she thinks she’s probably good to break away when he continues. “We didn’t see you earlier at the faculty room, so everybody thought you didn’t show up. Teachers usually stop by for a coffee or two before going to their classes.”

 

“Oh,” Karolina blinks, smiling bashfully. “I didn’t know that. I assumed we’d go straight to class first then hang out by the faculty room later.”

 

Chase waves dismissively. “It’s fine. We eventually found out, of course, the kids couldn’t stop talking about you.”

 

“Wow. Really?”

 

“Yeah! Said you were nice and stuff,” he gives her yet another smile. “Seems like you’re off to a good start.”

 

“Yeah, I was hoping for a good one, too. We know how kids are these days.”

 

Karolina tucks her hand into her slack’s pocket and continued walking quietly. She really isn’t up for having small talks with the, admittedly, good-looking Math teacher. Not like she could turn back and spit some excuse about forgetting something in her room. That’ll be counterproductive and it’ll take away more of her rest time.

 

Or, she can, because as they reach the main building’s exit, Karolina spots a familiar figure charging towards the gate and, _no_ , they aren’t friends, but Karolina’s interacted with her, so that counts as familiarity, right?

 

“Actually, I see someone I know over there so I’ll, uh, catch you later? Bye!” Karolina gives him no chance to say anything and runs to catch up to the marching woman.

 

By the time she reaches her side, she’s already panting and trying to catch her breath. “Hey!”

 

Thankfully, the woman stops, her face not missing its ever-present scowl. “What now?”

 

That’s... a totally expected reaction. Karolina forgives her for that.

 

“I just want to...” she pauses to give herself another second to recover, then straightens up with a brighter, definitely not exhausted smile. “I just want to apologize about earlier. Listen, I didn’t mean to accuse you of child abuse. It’s just—” she stops again, wincing as the frown on the _still_ nameless woman’s face deepens. “...The stick. It was scary. I didn’t know what you were going to do with it and I just assumed and I’m just... sorry.”

 

The woman just stares at her, but at least, her frown is gone and now she just looks tired of Karolina’s bullshit. It’s honestly very intimidating, and yet Karolina finds herself not wanting to leave this woman’s side just yet.

 

“Also... um, I don’t know your name yet, and seeing that we’re going to be working together for a year, maybe more, I figured it’d be best to get to know my fellow teachers—”

 

“Don’t you ever stop talking?”

 

“—and maybe grab a cof... what?”

 

Karoline blinks.

 

Nameless woman blinks back and then sighs in clear exasperation.

 

She definitely looks done. Maybe Karolina should just leave her alone.

 

“I’m Nico Minoru.”

 

_Or, not._

 

“P.E. teacher and cheerleading coach,” Nico continues. “I don’t know if I want to congratulate you for escaping Mr. Wilder’s obligatory meet and greet whenever there’s a new teacher around or if I should feel sorry for you because you’re obviously very clueless about what not to do and who not to associate yourself within the faculty.”

 

Karolina shakes her head. “I... don’t know what that means.”

 

“It means try to stick to your department while I stick with mine, Miss Dean.”

 

And without so much as a goodbye, Nico Minoru — P.E teacher and cheerleading coach, the small, feisty, and most beautiful woman she’s ever seen — walks away from her and catches the bus in record time.

 

Again, leaving Karolina Dean to gape at the leaving bus with that stupid smile on her face.

 

See? First days in school isn’t always so bad.

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> karolina meets gert and old lace, (sort of) meets alex. add papa bear mr. wilder in the mix. 
> 
> also karolina gets a yes to have coffee with nico.
> 
> and maybe gets more than what she's asking for?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the response this story received has been overwhelmingly great so far. thank you so much, guys! i'm really enjoying writing this story, too, and i only hope to give you something you can also enjoy. not a lot happens on this chapter, but deanoru definitely interacts. : ) next chapter will be HELLA.
> 
> once again, no beta (i'm too uncool to have one) so all mistakes are mine. 
> 
> also sHOUT AT ME @jfcdanvers on tumblr!!!! i'd like to talk to you guys! :D

 

 

 

The next day, Karolina makes it a mission to wake up earlier than usual. She figures it’s better to get to school before eight ---  _way before eight ---_  so she can have enough time to spend in the faculty room and, perhaps, be… productive? She isn’t really sure if that’s going to happen, considering the fact that most productive things happen in the actual classrooms. She’s heard from previous teachers that the faculty room is nothing more than a lounging area for teachers, which, of course, Karolina’s grateful for. She’s glad to know that the school cares about its teachers.

 

She arrives at the campus at exactly seven in the morning and to no one’s surprise, there’s little to no souls to be seen around to her. Of course, the guard is there and some janitors who are doing last minute sweeping on the ground before the teenagers come to make a mess of the place again. Not that Atlas Academy is a messy place, to begin with. Karolina’s actually glad to find out that Atlas students are disciplined enough to keep their trashes where they should be.

 

Guess that’s one advantage of growing up as Brentwood kids.

 

She passes by a few students and staff along the way, all of them she greeted with a smile. When she arrives in front of the faculty room, she takes a deep breath and knocks three times before slowly pushing the door open.

 

“Hello?”

 

_Yes, Karolina. Act like you’re in a freaking haunted house._

She smiles to herself as she enters and closes the door behind her back. As expected, the room is huge with ample space to accommodate more than ten teachers from different departments. There are tables situated at the far right from where she stands, and behind them is a table full of snacks and baked goods covered – of course – with very clean glassware. At the opposite side are two vending machines, housing varieties of  _more_  snacks – this time, from other countries -- and beside it are two refrigerators, housing different kinds of cold beverages.  Of course, the coffeemaker can’t be missing, and instead of paper cups, there is a clean stack of …  _personalized_  mugs beside the machine.

 

There are two flat screen T.Vs mounted on opposite walls, at the center are two, very long couches facing the devices respectively. There’s a corner full of office supplies, all available for any teachers in need, and…  _massage chairs_?

 

“Holy shit,” she muttered, mouth parting again as she slowly makes her way towards the couches. Karolina isn’t unfamiliar to extravagant things, having grown up in a well-off family, who definitely did not appreciate her choice of career, but to work in a school with such facilities and supplies--- it’s  _ridiculous_.

 

And very humbling.

 

“I know, right?”

 

Karolina jumps in place, her head turning so quickly she probably gave herself whiplash. “What?”

 

Beside her stands a bespectacled woman, purple hair shining under the sun’s rays and she stands proudly with a… huge lizard on her shoulder. Karolina’s not sure how to react to that, now that her heart isn’t racing anymore, and the woman probably notices her eyes locked on the lizard.

 

“Oh, this is Old Lace. She’s my baby,” she says whilst scratching the underside of the lizard’s jaw, then she turns to Karolina, thrusting a hand forward. “I’m Gertrude Yorkes, but call me Gert. I’m from the Social Studies department, and very much aware of the privilege that we have to be working here in Atlas Academy.” She narrows her eyes, head tilting to the side. “You’re not deaf to the cries of our fellow teachers about the government cutting down or not giving them enough funds to supply their needs in school? Or the fact that those teachers also spend money for things they need inside their classrooms, sometimes even for their students, thus leaving them with little to nothing in their pockets?”

 

Karolina blinks, mouth snapping shut as she nodded a few times. “I—totally agree. Of course, I’m very much aware of that and I’m very grateful to have been accepted in this institution.”

 

Gert seems satisfied with her answer, her lips quirking in a smile. “Good. Some teachers here say shit like,  _Oh, they should have applied in better schools, then._  But we all know it’s not that easy, right? I’m sure a lot of people tried to apply in Atlas, but… even teachers here are required to be  _of a certain social status_  to be accepted. I, for one, am aware of my privileges, and so by working in this institution, I will be given the opportunity to, at least, help other teachers in our country by speaking and helping out as much as I can.” Scratching her lizard again, she steps closer to Karolina and whispers, “Mr. Wilder doesn’t like it when I insert those extra topics in my classes, but what better way to teach those kids about things happening in our society than making them aware of our current issues, right?”

 

Karolina swallows thickly as she nods. “Totally.”

 

They’re interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind them, revealing the rushing form of Nico Minoru. Karolina stands a little straighter, something that definitely doesn’t go unnoticed by Gert. A sly, little smile forms on her lips as she stands back to let Nico pass by them without as much as a greeting, which somehow makes the blonde teacher deflate a little bit. So far from her perky self when Nico entered the room.

 

“Good morning, Nico. Ready to whip those kids again?” Gert asks, figuring she’d help the newbie out.

 

Nico barely gives them a glance as she stops by the coffeemaker, grabbing the only mug that no other faculty member would ever try to use. Karolina’s pretty sure it’s because the mug is practically a skull with half of its frontal and parietal bones missing.

 

Karolina leans into Gert’s space. “What is with her and skulls?”

 

Gert shrugs. “Beats me. It’s always been her thing. She used to not wear the prescribed faculty uniform; always went all goth and shit, but ever since Mr. Wilder stepped up as the school’s principal, she’s been… easier to deal with? For a lack of better words. As you can see, she’s looking more like a teacher than a cosplayer.”

 

Karolina turns to her, eyebrows slightly furrowing.

 

“Not that I’m shaming her for her choices in fashion,” Gert quickly reassured. “It’s just—”

 

“—Gertrude thinks that I look more professional when I wear  _professional-looking_  clothes while working,” Nico interjects with a steaming cup of coffee in her hand. She turns to Karolina. “Do I look professional in a white button up and pressed tight slacks?”

 

Taken by surprise, Karolina fumbles for a reply, and she finds it very hard to come up with one when the question has basically programmed her to keep her eyes locked on Nico’s outfit. It’s not hard to be sure, though, that the pristine, white shirt and the figure-hugging slacks are definitely a good look on the gym teacher. That, mixed with the dark makeup on her face and stylish hairdo… yeah. A great combination of professional and  _personal_.

 

And she still hasn’t replied.

 

Gert sighs beside her. “Karolina thinks you look professional, even with the goth makeup, Nico. Everybody’s into it.”

 

Nico snorts. “Those football oafs would disagree. All they do is making my life miserable.”

 

“You do realize that even athletes here are smart, right?” Gert asks.

 

“You do realize that some,  _if not most_ , of those students, are barely passing their subjects and are only able to stay in this institution because of their parents' money,  _right?_ ”

 

Karolina blinks and Gert shrugs.

 

“True,” they chorused.

 

A moment passes by, silence cloaking the three of them as more teachers entered the room. They all greeted the familiar faces, but Nico, not so much.

 

“Why are you wearing slacks, though?” Karolina asks from beside Nico, sporting a bashful smile. “Not that there’s something wrong with it. I’m just wondering why… considering you’re the gym teacher and you have lessons to teach.”

 

“Cheerleading tryouts,” Nico answered concisely. “Figured I’d try looking like a  _teacher_  – “ a knowing glance at Gert. “ – to scare those kids into taking me seriously.”

 

“As if the makeup doesn’t do the trick already,” Gert quips quietly. “ _And_  the personality, too.”

 

Karolina chuckles quietly whilst shaking her head. “Well, it definitely does the work, so…” She gives Nico a once over again, before locking her gaze on the smaller teacher’s eyes. “I think… yeah, it’s a really good outfit, I mean.”

 

Gert nudges Karolina’s side, looking  _absolutely_  done with her silly rambling, and the latter simply looks at her in confusion. Nico’s too busy gulping down her cold coffee to notice the exchange.

 

“Anyway, I have to go. Those kids aren’t going to recruit potential members by themselves,” she places the skull mug on the table and waves them goodbye. “See you.”

 

“Bye.”

 

“Later, Nico.”

 

They fall into silence as they watch Nico leave, and only when she’s out of the door does Karolina breathes out and leans against the nearest couch.

 

Gert scrunches her nose. “Can I ask you something?”

 

Karolina blinks inquisitively at her.

 

“I was just wondering: are you kind of into Nico?” She asks and continues when Karolina remains quiet. “It’s just, when she came into the room, I kind of sensed a vibe.” Silence. “By the way, I would totally support it,” Gert quickly reassured. Old Lace tilts her head as if waiting for an answer from Karolina as well.

 

Karolina bites her lip as she sighs in defeat. It’s only her second day and she’s already crushing on someone, which is very unsubtle, apparently, with how quickly Gert picks up on it.

 

“I-I mean…” Karolina stammers, looking at the direction where Nico left. “She’s an attractive woman and, I don’t know, I’d be blind not to see that. Don’t you think so?”

 

Gert shrugs. “I know she’s attractive, but I don’t look at her like the sun shines out of her ass when she’s in the room.”

 

Karolina flushes. “I don’t—”

 

“Listen,” Gert interrupts, chuckling softly. “I get it. It’s fine. Everyone’s into Nico one way or another; not even the goth get-up pushes people away, especially not the  _man_ —” She glances to the side, and Karolina follows her gaze on a bespectacled man heading over to the fridge where the juice is kept. “--- whose very much into Nico and may or may not be having a thing with Nico.”

 

Karolina blinks. “Wait, you mean—”

 

Gert nods. “Yep. Alex Wilder, son of the school principal,  _tech nerd_ , and has an on and off thing with Nico for quite some time now.”

 

Karolina feels herself deflating at the newly acquired information. It’s only her second day and she’s already crushing on someone who’s apparently very much  _not_  available.

 

“ _But,_ ” Gert quips, grinning. “Like I said, it’s on and off, so I wouldn’t lose hope just yet if I were you. Who knows? Maybe you could get the girl instead.”

 

A soft laugh rumbles in Karolina’s chest despite feeling very discouraged at the moment.

 

“We’ll see.”

 

***

 

Karolina is preparing for her last period later that day when she hears chaos going on outside her room. She doesn’t know what makes her think that Nico will be there again, dealing with naughty teenagers, but she goes to check, anyway. Sticking her head through the small crack of the door, she searches for a head full of black hair amidst the crowd of tall teenagers currently making their way down the hall and through an exit leading into what seems to be the pathway for the botanical garden. Based on the whines and complaints she’s hearing, she figures it’s a bunch of kids being punished for something, and since she saw no sign of Nico, she shrugs and goes back to her desk to wait for her next class.

 

Except, they don’t come.

 

Checking her clock one last time, Karolina clicks her tongue and makes her way to the principal’s office. She’s only met the principal twice – during her interview and her demonstration – and she’s one hell of a nervous mess as she raps her knuckles on the door.

 

She hears the faint voice of someone allowing her entrance and slowly pushes it open, a smile already gracing her face. “Good morning, Mr. Wilder.”

 

Mr. Wilder, tall and broad, yet possesses a gentle look in his eyes when he’s not frowning, looks up at her and greets her with a little smile. “Good morning, Miss Dean. How may I help you?”

 

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir—” She begins as she slowly enters the room, only to be interrupted by a raised hand.

 

She stops.

 

“Please, Miss Dean, you’re not bothering me.” Mr. Wilder gestures to one of the seats across his desk. “Take a seat.”

 

Karolina does just that, her smile turning just a tad bit awkward.

 

“So,” he gathers his hands on his table as he tilts his head to the side. “What’s the problem?”

 

“Right. Um. You see, I’m actually supposed to be teaching my last period for today, but uh… my students didn’t come, so I was just wondering if… maybe…”

 

“If I know something about it?” Mr. Wilder supplies.

 

Karolina nods. “Yes, sir.”

 

“All right, well, let’s see.” Mr. Wilder turns to his laptop and clicks on a few things before narrowing his eyes at  _something_. He glances up at her, then back on the screen of his laptop, before finally settling on the table. “Last period for Creative Writing with Miss Karolina Dean, yes?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“Well, your class is currently cleaning up the garden as we speak.”

 

“… What?”

 

“Yes, that’s what I can see written in my records.” He turns the laptop towards her, and there she sees a list of names identical to the one she has in her files and a live feed of the garden.

 

Karolina frowns. “Why was I not informed? And who gave them this punishment?”

 

“Someone was probably assigned to inform you, Miss Dean. Usually, when teachers apply  _disciplinary action_  on students that aren’t with them at a certain time, they inform the guidance counselor, who informs me. I give it an approval if I see the consequence to the students’ action fitting to what they did, and then,  _my_  secretary sends you a message via the school’s exclusive messaging application regarding this situation.”

 

_Oh._

“You… did check your phone, didn’t you, Miss Dean?”

 

Karolina shakes her head. “N-No, sir, I didn’t. I’m sorry. I didn’t think to—”

 

“You don’t have to apologize, Miss Dean. That only shows that you’re very dedicated in your work, hence you not checking your phone during class hours. I appreciate that. However, just make it a habit to check the  _app_ every once in a while just to be updated – or, you know, exclude the app from your silent mode?”

 

“Understood, sir.”

 

Mr. Wilder smiles, satisfied with her answer. “Okay. Now, you can either take advantage of this opportunity and take a break, or you can go check on your students. Totally up to you, Miss Dean.”

 

 _Well, that’s one thing she’d be glad to grab_.

 

She breathes out heavily and smiles at the principal whilst getting up from the chair. “I think that’s lovely, Mr. Wilder. Thank you so much for—” She stops when she catches a glimpse of  _white_  at the corner of her eyes. Focusing on the live feed, Karolina sees the imposing form of Nico Minoru now standing amongst the teenagers still picking up broken pots and scattered plants all over the garden, and she seems to be barking orders from the way her hands are pointing from one place to another.

 

Karolina’s smile grows bigger.

 

“Actually, yeah, I’d like to check on my students. Thank you, sir.”

 

 

***

 

She makes it to the garden in record time, feeling all levels of nervous and giddy as she stands on her toes to see past and through the students. A few students greet her, some of them apologize for not being able to attend her class, and she reassures them that she’s been made aware of the situation, albeit late. She could ask them about the reason why  _all_  of them are being punished for an offense that she failed to ask Mr. Wilder about, but then she sees Nico standing not so far away from her, already looking at her as if she’s been expecting her.

 

Bidding farewell to the students who approached her, she goes up to Nico and greets her with a smile. “Hi! So… seems like my class became yours this afternoon?”

 

Nico turns to a group of students standing nearby, making them scamper away from where they are. “Well, three of your students decided that it would be fun to mess with my bulletin board. The final list for accepted cheerleaders was replaced with the list of those that didn’t make it before lunch. It took me a long time to comfort those kids after telling them that it was a misunderstanding.”

 

“Okay…” Karolina nods. “But, why include all of them?”She gestures to those who have stopped working, obviously eavesdropping and definitely curious as to why they’ve been dragged into the mess.

 

“Because a lot of students were inconvenienced today. By doing this, they will know how it feels like to be the cause of someone’s discomfort or anger or hurt.” Nico glances to her left where three boys are transporting a huge crater filled with  _wet_  soil from one side of the garden to another. Karolina follows them with her eyes and shakes her head slowly.

 

_Kids these days._

Karolina hears Nico sigh softly. The smaller woman faces her and presses her lips into a tight smile. “I’m sorry for  _inconveniencing_  you, though. I  _know_  you have a lesson to conduct and you’re probably one day delayed with fulfilling the required competency to be learned today, but I had to do it. At least, you were informed, right?”

 

Karolina flushes as she remembers the conversation she just had with the principal. “Um, I wasn’t, actually.”

 

Nico frowns. “What?”

 

“I mean, I  _was_ , but I didn’t know because I didn’t check my phone and… it was on silent mode, so.”

 

Nico winces, lips pursing tightly, and sighs heavily as her lips part slowly. “I should have just gone to you and informed you myself. You’re new. Of course, you’re not used to the system.”

 

“You can just make it up to me,” Karolina quips.

 

“What?”

 

“Grab coffee with me?”

 

Nico blinks languidly, then snorts. “I can do that.”

 

***

 

**[ KAROLINA ; 8:02pm ]**

So, which do you prefer? Pepperoni or Veggies?

Or… Hawaiian?

**[ NICO ; 8:04pm ]**

hawaiian is just an afterthought? :p

**[ KAROLINA ; 8:04pm ]**

I mean… not everyone likes it.

**[ NICO ; 8:09pm ]**

i’m fine with anything

tho I thought we're getting coffee

**[ KAROLINA ; 8:09pm ]**

Coffee and pizza = happiness????

DO YOU AGREE :^D

**[ NICO ; 9:00pm ]**

definitely :)

**[ KAROLINA ; 9:00pm ]**

We’ll get coffee at Timely first

Then we head out to my favourite pizza parlor.

Is that okay with you? :)

**[ NICO ; 9:02pm ]**

*thumbs up emoji*

it’s a date

 

***

 

_“…Wait, what?”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> karolina is me when talking to my crush. that less than one minute replies. aksdmasd

**Author's Note:**

> what did you think? tell me 'bout it!


End file.
